My Schplinth

Remember that time when I had a meltdown when I found out I had to have braces and jaw surgery? Oh!! How I wish I was there now.

Yes, you read that right.

I'm now wearing a splint. It's like a gigantic mouth guard that fits over all my lower teeth. I'll be wearing a splint 24/7. I'll be wearing a splint while eating only soft food. I'll be wearing a splint for the next 6 months.

Then. And only then......will I get braces and have jaw surgery. That is - if my jaw isn't too messed up. Which it might be. Only the splint....and time....6 months.....will tell.

The soft food diet? I can deal. I did gluten/dairy free so this is easy. Plus, it's a good time of year for soft food. Stews, soups, chilli....

Definitely the hardest thing about this is talking. My entire mouth (and voice) are hidden behind a giant WALL. I have to talk louder - which is weird, I feel like I'm yelling. Worse than this, there is no way in hell I can avoid lisping like mad.

Let's just say that a couple days after I got this thing, I was ranting to my workmate RF about it and finally said 'And why ish it that the hardesth word to sthay with thisth thing is Schplinth?'
(This put us both on the floor, we were laughing so hard.)

So this is my life now. Insurance forms, toothbrushes and lots and lots of soup. If you have any good recipes, pass them my way.

More to come.....the story doesn't end here, oh not nearly!

Serious Ass Kicking

Remember when I said life has given me an ass-kicking lately? 

I am the dog.

(I have no idea where I got this picture.)

I will elaborate one day, probably sooner rather than later because this blog has brought  good things my way in the past. I can feel myself turning towards it again.  

Elastics

Life has given me a serious ass-kicking in the last month. I'm recovering and am now getting back online. I'm ready to tell you guys about one of the mental things that's happening right now.

I'm getting braces and having jaw surgery.

This is not cosmetic and certainly not elective.

After I found out I spent 24 hours swearing, crying, stomping my feet, cursing the universe (which I'm still doing) and having a huge pity parade. Then I did as my buddy advised: I ate a cookie* and moved forward.

Some background. Remember this post? 

 My TMJ is completely crazy. I have an amazing massage therapist but it isn't working. Worse than this - I have (a new term to me) an 'open bite'. My teeth have been moving apart in the front over the last 5 years, it's complicated but it's causing my TMJ and it's really hard for me to eat.

It's gotten so bad there is a whole list of food I don't eat in public anymore - sandwiches, pizza, wraps - anything you have to bite into. It's impossible without eating like Cookie Monster, which I do at home. **

Oh and I'm starting to listhp. (I spelled that wrong on purpose.)

So braces to straighten my teeth, then jaw surgery to re-align my jaw. It's going to be a +/- 2 year ordeal journey.

After my new orthodontist broke the news, he left me with his assistant and she was super sweet. She showed me lots of pictures of braces and starting talking about how they aren't like they used to be. I was a hot mess and in the middle of it she tried to cheer me up:

I obviously knew nothing about braces - elastics? Brackets? Wires? What the WHAT?! When I see her again I'm going to give her this cartoon.

* I broke the cookie into small bite sized pieces because I can't bite into a cookie anymore. Ha!
** Poor Brad

The Health Care Team

Behold.

 These are the guys I'm working with right now.

Can you handle them?

I can't. I'm not going to launch in to details about them because I respect their privacy but let me just say this - I've never worked on a better team and I've never worked on a project I'm more proud of.

I've been working so much overtime - the last thing I want to do is get on a computer after a 12 hour day at work. 

But I have tons to share with you guys - road trips, book reviews, good music and cartoons.

After a big deadline on the 22nd I'll be back.

We Moved?!?!?

My commute to work is now 4 storeys shorter! 

We really loved our old place, we were there for five years! We got along well with our landlord too so we were sad to go.

The worst part about leaving (other than the trauma of moving and realizing how much crap you actually own) is that we are super picky. Remember, we have The Bad Room Mate, and have the following requirements:
- balcony facing either south or west
- washer/dryer
- dishwasher
- underground parking
- close to both of our offices (we both walk to work)

Yeah.

We hired movers for the big stuff and used a cart and dolly for the rest. It went really smoothly - we didn't even have to leave the building!?

So, now we're settling into our new place!

We were nervous about the balcony because it faces east. We used to love coming home after work and having a drink on the balcony in the sun. Not happening here. We get morning sun though. So on the weekend I get up early and have my coffee out there. Plus there are windows along the entire side of our place facing south so it's nice and bright.

Plus, we have a view! I've never had a view of anything more interesting than a street with a sidewalk. We can see ocean and mountains from here.

The downsides: it's carpeted. Which doesn't sound like a big deal unless.....you're me. There is not one thing that's good about carpet in my world. 

 

(Our first dinner in our new place!)

The other downside was the kitchen - which isn't in as good shape as our old place. We somehow managed to fit most of our stuff in there (we had a pantry in the other place) and it's actually working out well. I only had to put a few pieces of pottery in storage....sniff.

Now it's the good stuff, we unpacked our books tonight. It feels like home now.

Stop Complaining

I'm sure you're all on Pinterest or following it or loathe it or whatever. I'm on there and I enjoy it a lot, it's a pretty cool collection of stuff that totally reflects my style now or where I want to be later.

Anyway, this sounds super lame but I find a lot of inspiration on there too. One of the best things I saw on there was this pin:

So as I complain about working too much, Revit acting up or having to use AutoCAD - let's put things into perspective.

Life could be worse.

If you are healthy, had dinner tonight and are climbing into a warm comfy bed tonight you've got it made.

Revit vs. Data

Do you ever have days when everything you do ends in failure? Or everything you try to do brings up new problems and you literally don't cross off one single thing from your list? Yeah....

I had an argument the other day. With someone something I normally get along with. It was traumatic, but it happens sometimes.

I know you won't believe this, but I'm going to rant about.....Revit.* (gasp!)

I was struggling with a multitude of problems - a site model that mysteriously moved, a topography that was modelling like stalactites, a mechanical model that refused change to black and white and finally - what put me over the edge - stairs.

I realized halfway through my struggle that what I was experiencing must be similar to reasoning with Data from Star Trek. You know how he tilts his head to the side when he's confused? 

Revit does this too.  

Below I relate a snippet of my 'argument' with Data Revit:



Jabba: Okay, can you not show the railing above the cut line?

Revit: (head tilt) But there is a railing there.

Jabba: It's so cluttered, please turn it off above the cut line.

Revit: (head tilt) But there is a railing there.

Jabba: I know there is a railing there but just don't show it.

Revit: (head tilt) But there is a railing there.



You get the picture. 

My day ended with this post to Instagram.  
 

 * Please remember how much I love this program. Really I do.

Lip Balm Addict

I know. Talk about a random topic, but let's talk about lip balm.

Ask almost any woman - she's addicted and probably has one on her person. My  mom gave me this gift for Christmas - an entire COLLECTION. I'm so in love. I had bought three tubes from this shop earlier so I knew it was good stuff.* 

Mom customized it and chose perfect flavours for me - Vanilla Mint, Cherry Limeade. It lives on our coffee table - Brad is thrilled. I have one in my bag, one at work, one on my nightstand.....I switch them around sometimes.

Now I have 8 tubes from Firebird. That doesn't include the two Burt's Bees tubes and another lip balm I bought off Etsy that I keep in the kitchen - you know for emergencies.

How come men aren't addicted to this stuff??


*I also bought soap, lip tint, body scrub and perfume from her and they are all amazing.

Too Much to Drink - Not Always a Bad Thing!

Tonight we had dinner with buddies after work. I had to literally tear myself away from my desk just to get there. It was worth it. We sat on the patio, soaked up some sun* and caught up.

Let's be honest - I drank too much wine and I'm still buzzing. Know how I can tell? I'm getting sappy, listening to some amazing music** that is making me weepy and I'm chatty - hence the blog post. I'll include some albums that are being played right now and putting me over the edge.

A good friend of mine sent an email out to a few people the other day about music. He's super passionate and it stirred something in me. I was thinking about starting to do posts about music and my experiences with it. Similar to talking about books, I love talking about music.

 I have a few friends who are heavy into music but I think I'm different from them, not in a bad way or anything. But I'm not into stats, keeping up on the latest news, who's collaborating with who - in fact I'm lucky if I even know the names of the band members of my faovurite groups.

Music for me is all about how it affects me on a deep, personal level.

I'm making a mixed CD for my Dad. I can still do this because he isn't completely connected technically, and I'm really enjoying the process.

*Sun does not equate warmth in Victoria. I had my jacket over my legs and my scarf on after that. Don't get me started.
** listening to amazing music is not a rare occurrance around here - just clarifying.

Book Review #16

Sometimes I wonder if I enjoy reading or talking about books more. When Christielli was here last summer I think we spent a good 90 minutes in the book store wandering, pointing out books (good and bad) that we had read, comparing notes. It was great fun.

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
Major hype around this book and man was it worth it. It had me on the edge of my seat, although midway through the build-up I guessed what was going on. Still, totally worth the read. Oh and the ending was a little anticlimactic, but how do you keep that momentum? HOW?!  

That being said, I don't have an overwhelming desire to read more from this author, not sure why.

The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
A friend of mine recommended this book years ago. I looked for it at the book sale, in Russell's and on Kobo all the time and it was either never there or never on sale. Finally someone gave me a gift card for Kobo and I just bought it full price. The next week - it went on sale. This year - it was at the book sale. What. Is. With. That??

Anyway, worth the wait. Sometimes the story was absolutely unbelievable, considering it was true. I'm shocked this woman turned out normal, much less successful. Worth the wait, but again no desire to read another book from her.

The Land of Decoration - Grace McCleen
I was pleased to grab this on sale from Kobo. It was fantastic, an interesting study of religion gone awry. Also an interesting story about a little girl totally wrapped up in herself and how she ended up that way through neglect. It really touched me, great read.

The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
Sometimes I get overwhelmed with novels and end up highly emotional. When I end up crying or feeling depressed for no reason or I can't stop thinking about why the guy I passed on my way to work seemed so sad I know it's time to read something totally different.

This time I was TOTALLY in the mood for sci-fi and this book delivered. I haven't seen the movies and have no clue what the story is about. I'm looking forward to the next book.
(Also, on a side note I did find myself skipping over a lot of sideline information like the history of a village or the roots of a language, it doesn't take away from the story.)

 

Tigers in Red Weather - Liza Klaussmann
Another awesome book. I love the setting - kids coming of age one super hot summer at their cabin. Crazy dynamics, lots of intensity and told from different viewpoints - makes for an amazing novel. Read it. Do. It.

I've already read two books from the book sale this year and I'm halfway through the third. Now I just need some warm weather, to get past a looming deadline and deal with other nightmares that I'll tell you about soon. How's THAT for a cliffhanger?!